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Early Addition
Guess what? The MTA is unhappy with Siemens, who promised them real-time information boards, because the company has failed to fix its software! The Post reports that the MTA already paid Siemens $45 million out of the $160 million contract, but the agency is now looking for another contractor to finish the job. This is very good to know - you don't actually have to finish a job in order to get paid by the MTA. And Siemens claims they can fix the software, but this is apparently on deaf MTA ears (Siemens must have majorly screwed up if the MTA isn't having any of this!).
The Straphangers' Gene Russianoff says, "The buck stops with transit officials, because they are the ones who drew up the specs. They spend tens of millions of dollars and promise their customers real-time information." On the upside, the real-time information boards at L stations were put up by a different contractors and are still on schedule (in a behind schedule kind of way) to be up and running in the next few months. But the Post reporter Jeremy Olshan puts it best:
In the meantime, riders can still employ the more low-tech method of staring into the void for signs of that telltale light at the end of the tunnel.We do that - and try to listen as well. Just don't lean too far over the platform edge.
In other subway news:
- MTA officers are training bomb-sniffing dogs and taking them through a "National Odor Recognition Test" in the Bronx ("Fifteen empty paint cans are lined in a row, some planted with traces of explosives, others scent-free. Each dog must dip its snout in each can, inhale and, if it smells something dangerous, sit.) And it turns out the bomb-sniffing dogs like a good tummy scratch.
- And the MTA is adding surveillance cameras to 32 more stations, according to amNew York. The Transit Authority says, "This is not a 'Big Brother' thing, this is not about keeping tabs on our riders. It is about providing police and other investigative bodies information." Well, how about the MTA uses the cameras situated at entrances to see how some riders have difficulties using the High Entrance/Exit Turnstiles. We swear, we see at least one person every other day lose a fare because he/she turns the turnstile incorrectly.
Photograph of G Train by Tien Mao
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OMG. Where did you find that stuffed dog? I want one!
Can somebody please explain how these signs will improve riding the subway? Once these signs are installed and you are standing on a subway platform, why will it be useful to know if the next train is coming in 2 minutes, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes? You are already down there waiting. How will knowing the time really help? The vast majority of people take the subway when trains run fairly frequently and minimal waiting is involved anyway.
I would argue that if the MTA put the signs at the entrance to the station it would be much more useful. If it were late at night and the train was coming in 30 minutes, you could go do something else before entering the station. Once you are on the platform, it is already too late to change your actions based upon when the train is coming. It seems like this specific situation would not apply to most subway riders, so why all the fuss?
Contract it to me, I will have it done before Chrismas...
A lot of the stations do have signs posted where you can see them before you swipe through the turnstile.
most every other major metro station in the world has automated signs that tell you when the next train is coming. shouldnt the self-proclaiemd "capital of the world" do the same?
Here's one time signs that tell you when the next train is coming would be helpful: when you're deciding whether to take the local or wait for the express.
It is well known people are willing to wait at least twice as long if they know how long they will be waiting. It takes a lot of stress away from customers when they know how long to expect. I for one cannot WAIT for this system, which pretty much every system has, to come online. These signs will be accompanied by clear, computer-generated automated announcements and text scrolls showing delays and service interruptions as well, helping customers if they need to take a different route.
almost every other major metro station in the world has automated signs that tell you when the next train is coming. shouldnt the self-proclaiemd "capital of the world" do the same?
What kind of logic is that? Everyone else is doing it?
it's technological progress.... it can help passengers who are choosing between local and express. it eases the mind of people waiting. if you know a train is coming in 8 minutes, it is a lot easier when you are on the platform than standing there in agony wondering whether it could be 5 or it could be 25 minutes until your train arrives. it's not a matter of doing it because everyone else is doing it... it's a matter of doing it because it is a good idea - one which has been implemented in smaller systems with success.
or if you are at a station with multiple lines you can alter the trip you are taking (i.e., Atlantic Ave, Union Square, etc.) to get somewhere faster